Russell Brand apologizes to angry bank worker for protest

Russell Brand has offered an apology to a bank employee who suffered disruption when the comedian staged a protest at his place of work.

The funnyman faced off with a staff worker at The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) headquarters in London last week (ends15Dec14) when he attempted to gain access to the building with a camera crew, prompting a security scare which left workers locked outside.

The man, now named as Joseph Kynaston Reeves, later wrote an open letter to Brand, accusing him of using bullying tactics and causing disruption to “ordinary working people” who were left standing out in the cold while the star was “poncing around.”

Reeves also complained that he had missed his lunch because of the stunt, so Brand has now apologised and offered to buy him dinner.

In a post on his Facebook.com page, Brand writes, “Hello Jo, thanks for your open letter, I do remember you from the melee outside RBS and firstly, I’d like to say sorry for your paella getting cold. It’s not nice to suffer because of actions that are nothing to do with you… I can’t apologise for the RBS lockdown… The locking of the doors and your tarnished lunch came about as the result of orders from ‘the faceless bosses’ upstairs…

“I’d never knowingly keep a workingman from his dinner, it’s unacceptable and I do owe you an apology for being lairy. So Jo, get in touch, I owe you an apology and I’d like to take you for a hot paella to make up for the one that went cold – though you could say that was actually the fault of the shady shysters who nicked the wedge and locked you out, I’d rather err on the side of caution. When I make a mistake I like to apologize and put it right.”